


Pride

by holmartell



Category: Ghosts (TV 2019)
Genre: Biphobia, Bisexuality, Coming Out, F/F, Gen, Happy Ending, Kitty questions her sexuality, No Mary or Robin unfortunately :(, Period Typical Attitudes, Self-Discovery, Tiny bit angsty?, Unrequited Alison/Kitty, gay dad Cap/bi daughter Kitty
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-09
Updated: 2021-01-09
Packaged: 2021-03-12 20:40:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,486
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28641612
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/holmartell/pseuds/holmartell
Summary: Alison and Mike go out for the day to attend Pride. When Kitty discovers what ‘Pride’ means, she begins asking herself difficult questions. The other ghosts help her find answers.
Relationships: Alison & Button House Ghosts (Ghosts TV 2019), Alison & Kitty (Ghosts TV 2019), Alison/Kitty (Ghosts TV 2019), Kitty & Julian (Ghosts TV 2019), Kitty & Lady Button (Ghosts TV 2019), Kitty & Pat (Ghosts TV 2019), Kitty & Thomas (Ghosts TV 2019), The Captain & Kitty (Ghosts TV 2019)
Comments: 19
Kudos: 87





	Pride

Thomas and Kitty always loved to watch Alison do her makeup. Fanny thought it was vulgar and ‘whorish’ (in her words), but Kitty and Thomas thought it was beautiful. Pat sat on the bed behind her, also watching with interest.

Although it was early, Alison had blowdried her hair and was wearing her best jeans, along with a shirt embroidered with glittering rainbows. Disco music played on the speakers, much to Pat’s delight.

“As radiant as Aphrodite herself.” Sighed Thomas wistfully, going to rest his elbow on the dressing table and immediately falling through it.

“Oh, how wonderful! So sparkly!” Said Kitty, admiring the glitter Alison was patting onto her cheekbones. “Do me, do me!” She pleaded, pouting and sticking her face out.

With a smile, Alison took her brush and mimed dabbing glitter onto Kitty’s cheeks. “There.” She said with a satisfied grin when she had finished. “You look lovely.”

Kitty flushed pink at the compliment, and began admiring her imagined makeover in the mirror.

“Loving the blue eyeshadow, Alison! It was super trendy back in my day. All you need is a perm and you’d fit right in at the town hall half-term disco!” Pat said.

Alison laughed at this. “Thanks, Pat.” Pleased with her creation, she stood up and gave a twirl. “What d’you think, guys?”

Kitty clasped her hands in response and squealed. “Absolutely sublime!”

“Alison, you would’ve been the envy of Helen of Troy.” Thomas added with sickly sincerity. Used to his mythology-based compliments, Alison simply nodded in response.

“Right.” She said, changing the subject. “We should be getting off if we want to get there in good time...”  
  
As Alison jogged down the stairs, the others followed, hot on her heels.

“Where are you going?” Kitty asked, trying to keep up without tripping over her skirts.

“We’re going to Pride, with Leila and Angela.” Alison replied, as if that would’ve meant anything at all to a sheltered Georgian noblewoman.

“Oh! How lovely!” Kitty smiled, pretending to know what on earth ‘Pride’ was.

Alison could sense questions were coming, but she didn’t have time for them. She checked her watch. “Mike!” She yelled in the direction of the stairs.

“Coming!” An echoey voice replied from the floor above.

When Mike appeared, he was wearing a rainbow-coloured feather boa, giant novelty sunglasses, and bright pink lipstick. Alison couldn’t help but snort at the sight.

“You’ll probably get pulled over wearing that on the motorway.” She smirked.  
  
“True.” He agreed, twirling his boa before taking off his accessories. “Let’s go!”

Kitty and Thomas followed Alison out onto the drive, waving goodbye as the couple got in the car.

“We’ll be back late, maybe ten-ish? Cap’s got his films on at the minute, but if you want to watch the television afterwards make sure to ask Julian for help, okay? Be good!” She said, leaning out of the rolled-down window, and with that they were gone.  
  
Kitty twiddled her thumbs anxiously. “I worry about them when they leave.” She confessed to Thomas, who was already making his way back to the house.

“Ah, they’ll be back.” He replied noncommittally, and - whistling - went on his way.

Kitty remained on the drive for a moment more, chewing her bottom lip in thought, before following him.

———

She found Pat and Julian in the common room, Pat thoroughly enrapt as he watched Julian play a particularly intense game of Pong on the laptop.

“For crying out loud, don’t go to his backhand, go to his forehand!” Pat exclaimed.

“It’s a computer, Pat, it doesn’t have any hands!” Julian replied through gritted teeth.

Kitty cleared her throat to announce herself as she entered the room, coming to stand right in Julian’s line of sight.

“Can I ask you both something?”

“Oh, Kitty! You’ve made me lose now! Thanks a lot...” Julian tutted, folding his arms in a sulk.

“Of course you can, Kitty! Y’alright?” Pat said, motioning for her to sit down beside them.

“Alison said that she and Mike and going to something called ‘Pride’ today. How does one go to pride? It’s an emotion, not a place!” She frowned before adding. “As far as I know.”  
  
“Ooh, I know this!” Said Pat with excitement. He adopted what Alison tended to call his ‘dad pose’ as he adjusted his glasses and put his hands in his lap. “Pride, Kitty, is a parade that the gays hold every year to celebrate...well, being gay!” He said, proud of himself for being worldly and cultured.

“Gay? You mean to celebrate being happy? That’s nice, I didn’t...”

“Oh no, hang on...” He pursed his lips and started again. “Someone who’s gay is a man who only likes other men, or a woman who only likes other women. You remember Claire and Sam from the wedding?” She nodded. “Like them!”

“Oh. I see.” She said, but she wasn’t smiling - she was frowning.

“Right load of malarkey, in my opinion.” Said Julian. “Celebrating being a poof? Claptrap. The rest of us don’t go around spouting off about our sex lives unprompted.”

Pat narrowed his eyes. Julian shrugged.

“Good excuse for a piss-up, though.” Julian said, miming drinking a bottle of beer.

“Don’t listen to him, Kitty.” Pat said, noting her concerned expression. “There’s nothing wrong with being gay. Dave - one of my best friends - his daughter Cheryl is a _lesbian_! The times are changing, Kitty.” He nodded knowingly.

“Um...thank you, Pat. I think.”

“No prob! Right...” Pat said, getting back to the Pong. Kitty left them to it, smiling to herself at the sound of Pat chastising Julian in hush-tones.

———

She found Thomas in his sighing place, and sat beside him. He glared at her.

“I hope I’m not interrupting.” She said, staring back at him.

“I was writing, actually.” He replied, tapping his temple. “But never mind, now my concentration has been broken. What’s wrong?” He asked.

Kitty became shy and looked away before she spoke. “When we were alive...did men love each other?”  
  
Thomas was suddenly gripped by poetic passion, and jumped to his feet, gesturing wildly with his hands. “Oh, Kitty! Love between men was the subject of some of the most beautiful and evocative poetry I ever read! The themes of longing, of loneliness, were just exquisitely romantic!”  
He sat back down. “I even attempted to form an emotional connection with a fellow myself, once, for the sheer poetry of it. But, alas, my heart wasn’t in it.” He said sadly. “I belong to the gentler sex only.”

“It was a crime when we were alive. I remember watching the hangings. There was nothing loving about it. My father said the men were...perverts. That it was wrong.” Said Kitty, disturbed.  
  
“Of course, I remember them, too. And it _was_ wrong, legally speaking. I always found it completely moral, however. Thankfully, times have changed.” He said, with a smile. “Although try telling that to a certain old walrus in the television room...” He added, with a chuckle.

She gaped at him.

“Was that all?” He asked, anticipating more questions about his exotic love life.

“What about love between women? What was it like for us—for women back then?” She said quietly, trying not to blush and failing.  
  
“Oh.” He said, disappointed. “Dunno.”

———

The garden was always a good place to find answers. Florence never had been very talkative, but back then that had been a blessing. During an hours-long game of hide and seek, Florence could always be trusted to listen to Kitty’s secrets without judgement, without gossiping, without...well, without working ears. Kitty told her everything; about all the drama from last weekend’s ball, about the horrible things her sister had said to her yesterday, and about all the beautiful girls she had seen at Church on Sunday - what they had been wearing, the colour of their gloves, their hairstyles. She could’ve talked about them for hours.

Alison and Mike had relocated Florence. Kitty’s memory was not particularly good, so she traced her steps to try and find her. It was times like this that she wished Florence could be magically animated into life, so she could help her understand. As she walked - skirts held above the mud - along the garden path, however, she encountered Fanny, who was admiring the flowerbeds Alison had recently installed (although she never would’ve admitted it).  
  
“Good morning, Lady Button.” Kitty said politely, joining the older woman in admiration of the pink and yellow roses.

“Ah, Kitty. What are you up to?” Fanny asked, wary of being drawn into one of Kitty’s adventures, which usually involved singing or dancing.

“Oh, I’m just...taking a walk. Alison and Mike have gone out for the day.”

“Have they really? I was taking a turn around the garden, myself. I didn’t hear them leave.”

They stood in awkward silence for a moment, Kitty reaching out her fingers to touch the rose petals, and being disappointed despite herself when they inevitably phased through like water. She cleared her throat.  
  
“Lady Button...you once told me about the bees and the flowers. About how bees and flowers are meant for each other, were made for each other. But that some bees only like other bees.”

Fanny sniffed. “I did.”

“And since the wedding, now I know that two flowers can love each other too.”

Fanny looked at Kitty with narrowed eyes, wondering what she was getting at. Kitty began to stammer.

“What I mean to ask is, Lady Button, can a bee or a flower love every sort of creature? Can a bee love a bee without letting go of his love of beautiful flowers? Can a flower love bees but love her own kind too?”

Taking a second to absorb the allegory, Fanny hesitated before speaking.

“I hope they can, Kitty. I truly hope so. Perhaps if they could, I could believe that my husband did feel some love towards me after all.”

With a sad smile, she turned and continued walking, leaving Kitty alone.

———

After a day of so much confusion and questioning, there was only one person Kitty wanted to see. She climbed the stairs slowly, taking time to consider everything she had learnt and everything she still wanted and ask and say.

She found the Captain in the television room where Alison had left him. He was alone, and was watching a black-and-white film with great interest, so much so that he didn’t notice her enter. Taking his lack of response as an invitation, she sat down beside him on the couch. He didn’t jump when he saw her, he simply gave her a smile and continued watching.

It was a silent film, one of the ones from the 1920s with music and writing instead of speaking, starring incredibly pale people with big, dark eyes. From what she could gather, this one was about pilots. There were a lot of dramatic flying scenes, and a woman with shining hair gasping and looking afraid. They sat in a comfortable quiet for a long time, and watched the film together.  
  
“You know, I saw this at the cinema when it was first released.” He said, breaking the silence. “My mother had intended for me to take one of her friend’s daughters to the Picture Palace as a date. Julia. One of many girls she hoped would take my fancy. She was perfectly nice, but I regret to admit that I stood her up and took my friend, Clarence, instead. Most ungentlemanly.” He laughed quietly to himself.  
  
Kitty was taken aback by his forthcomingness; he was usually so private.  
  
On the screen, two men were engaged in an emotional conversation. One was laying down, mortally wounded, the other beside him, touching his friend’s face and smoothing his hair. They spoke but nothing came out, the only sound the sentimental strings. Eventually, one man kissed the other, halfway between his lips and his cheek. Kitty felt the Captain tense beside her, and he cleared his throat.

“I’ve been thinking a lot today, about so many different things.” She said. “About love, about Sam and Claire. I learnt that men can love other men too, in the way that Mike and Alison love each other.”

The Captain stammered, his voice strange and hollow. “Yes...yes, I believe they can.”  
  
“It’s all very different these days, isn’t it?” She sighed, slumping in her seat, at a loss.

“Indeed.” He agreed, both of them determinedly keeping their eyes on the screen.

“Two men, two women, one man and one woman...it all seems so neat. So uncomplicated.” She said, her voice betraying her slight frustration.

“Trust me, Kitty, it is more complicated than you know.” The Captain replied, terse.

“The thing is...I don’t know which one I am.” Kitty continued, taking no notice of his reticence. “My sister always told me that I fell in love with handsome boys too quickly. And I do, I know that...”

“My sister told me the same thing.” He smiled, finally turning to looking at her.  
Kitty looked back at him with surprise.

“I think we’re more alike than you realise.” He added, with a knowing raise of his eyebrow.

“Oh, I’ve always realised that.” She smiled in return, brushing it off. “But I love Alison, too. I love her more than I’ve ever loved anyone. As more than just a friend. As much as I’ve loved any boy, and more. I can spend whole days thinking of how much I should like to kiss her, if I could. To hold her and comfort her and be with her always. I don’t fit into those comfortable pairs. I can’t choose between the bees and the flowers.” She paused. “Am I broken?”  
  
The Captain’s face softened.  
  
“Catherine, I can assure you that you are the farthest thing from broken.” He said, kindly.

“But I’m not like Claire and Sam, I’m not like Alison. I’m not like you. I learnt so much about the world today, but now I understand myself less than ever.”

“I’ve been asking myself these questions for one hundred and twenty years, Kitty, and I still don’t have any answers. Perhaps there are some things that can’t be understood, and that’s alright. You are most definitely not alone.”

With this, she felt her shoulders relax and her jaw unclench, as if she had been holding onto anxieties she had never even been aware of. It was as if a weight had been lifted off her back and she could finally sit up straight. It was a freedom she had never experienced, even when she was alive. Especially not when she was alive. In an instant, she felt different. Changed, for the better.

“I think I understand you.” She said after a moment, resting her head on his shoulder.  
  
“I think I understand you, too.” He replied.

“That’s alright, then.” She smiled, and they both looked back towards the screen.

**Author's Note:**

> The disco song Alison is listening to is I’m Coming Out by Diana Ross (of course). The film watched by Cap and Kitty is Wings (1927).
> 
> Sorry that this one was a bit heavy-handed but I project so much onto Kitty (could you tell?) I just had to write something for her. I hope you enjoyed! Find me on tumblr @ tennisesque!


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